-- MK Yitzchak Pindrus (UTJ)

I dont know what he should have said, but saying this isnt going to garner any sympathy for the Haredi position ....

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  -- Minister Yoav Ben Tzur when asked at the Hurvitz Conference about politicians calling each other traitor..

I agree. I think the goal should be for a national unity government after the next elections, whenever they will be and no matter who heads the largest party. Nobody likes a good troll more than me but the politics in government has gotten so divisive in recent years that this is the most dangerous threat to Israeli society, I think, and is more important to repair than probably most other issues. The only way is by working together in good faith.

As an aside, I wonder if Ben Tzur, who is form the Shas party, is indicating anything in this statement about upcoming elections. With the Haredi deadline to Netanyahu fast approaching regarding the Haredi draft law, is Ben Tzur talking about working together with right and left because he knows we are about to go to elections?

And Are Shas and UTJ considered Zionist parties? Maybe. They do both (Shas officially and UTJ unofficially (and they even deny the unofficially aspect of it) ) participate in WZO which requires a declaration of being Zionist...

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חג ירושלים שמח!

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no, it is not another Hamas invasion. According to the reports, it is the production set of the hit Israeli tv show Fauda filing for the upcoming season..

I hope they don't cause lots of people to relive the trauma of October 7 showing similar things on the tv screen.... I wonder if it is too soon for that, and I just hope they know what they are doing...

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in support of John Spencer...

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I am not sure why the Supreme court ruled anything at all. Ronen Bar announced his plans to resign in June. In light of Bar's resignation, the government retracted its firing of Ronen Bar. If the government retracted the firing of Ronen Bar, there is retroactively no court petition to rule on.

So why is the Supreme Court ruling anything on this at all today?

  

Golan said, "Israel is on the path to becoming a pariah state among the nations – like the South Africa of old – if it does not return to behaving like a sane country. A sane country does not wage war against civilians, does not kill babies for a hobby, and does not set goals involving the expulsion of populations.”

Golan never said anything about the IDF and didnt accuse them of killing babies, but was in context talking about the government and what they are trying to do. After his statement created an uproar with everyone upset at him accusing the IDF of killing babies as a hobby and blaming him for antisemitism around the world, Golan held a press conference in which he clarified his statement stressing he is speaking against the government and not against the IDF.

Why is he speaking against the government like this? Because Ministers Ben Gvir and Smotritch, both senior Cabinet ministers, have been talking about annihilating Gaza, wiping it out, killing all the residents, etc. Minister Wasserlauf recently said again that an atom bomb should be dropped on Gaza. Moshe Feiglin, a former Likudnik and one who aspires to make a grand return, said explicitly we have to kill all the babies in Gaza. Other MKs in the government coalition have been making similar statements, and right wing reporters who hold influence in the government have as well.

I get they are attacking Golan because he is an easy target and an easy deflection from their own issues. Just like I wouldn't accuse someone who reported a crime of making a chilul hashem (I am thinking of an accusation commonly made against those who report sexual abuse crimes and the like) but the perpetrator of the crime is the one who made the chilul hashem, so Golan isnt guilty of claiming the government or IDF is killing babies, but the ministers calling for it are.

So why was Golan acting irresponsibly? 

Yair Golan holds an important position. His star is rising in the face of a weak Opposition. He has been raising the Labor and Meretz parties (jointly making up what is now known as the Democratim) from about 4 seats to polling at around 15, and what could be a force in a future Knesset or even government. He himself is also a former Deputy Chief of Staff and a hero for his actions on October 7 going south and saving lives, making his voice an important one that carries weight. 

So what was irresponsible? He should have chosen his words better. He should have spoken clearly and unequivocally, if he felt it was necessary to speak up, without leaving room for misinterpretation. There should have been no need for calling a press conference to clarify what he said - he should have said something like that clearly in the first place. 

If you dont think Israel should wipe out everyone in Gaza including babies, you should be upset at the members of the government who continue to campaign for that. And if you agree with Ministers Smotritch and Ben Gvir and with the others who have been speaking similarly, why are you upset at Golan for saying that this is what the government seems to want to do?

Golan spoke irresponsibly but not incorrectly

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wow.. the reports of what they recovered from the archives of Eli Cohen in Syria are amazing

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  -- Former Chief Rabbi of Israel Rav Yitzchak Yosef, regarding the recent news that the IDF will start enforcing the existing laws and search for people who have not reported for duty

I dont think this is as big a threat as he thinks it is...

As Amit Segal pointed out, it is ironic and crazy that he will immediately fly to Qatar and meet with the sponsors of Hamas who took and held him hostage.

It is not strange that he is going to meet with Trump, and since Trump seems to not be coming to Israel on this trip Alexander will fly to him instead. Meeting the Emir of Qatar is strange. Perhaps it is simply because he is going to Qatar to meet Trump so that makes meeting the Emir inevitable and maybe unavoidable.

That being said, I hope he takes the opportunity to tell them what he went through, describe the conditions of his captivity, and plead with them to pressure Hamas to release the rest of the hostages.

People have been somewhat perturbed by the fact that Idan Alexander is getting a separate deal, even prioritized, because he holds American citizenship.

Personally I think we should celebrate the release and any and every hostage regardless of the reason he or she is being released. If his American citizenship helped him in this case right now, good for him for his family finding a way to utilize it. 

I am happy he is being freed and I hope the rest are sent or brought home soon, for whatever reason can be established.

Netanyahu made two statements in direct opposition to the desires and even demands of his coalition partners.

In a meeting to the Security and Foreign Affairs Committee about the upcoming Draft Law, Netanyahu said that within two years we will draft 10500 Haredim, for the first time ever. This is the number of Haredim the IDF is able to absorb. There will also be serious personal and institutional sanctions if they dont meet the quotas. We will take care that anyone going in to the IDF as Haredi can leave the IDF as a Haredi. I greatly respect those who learn Torah, but the time has come for the Haredim to give back more.

The other thing PM Netanyahu said is, "I know there are those who have dreams of resettling Gaza with Jewish settlements - I dont want to disappoint you [but it isnt going to happen]". Netanyahu has said this several times before since the war began, but only closer to the beginning of the war, not since he adopted the newer strategy of raining hell on Gaza and conquering the land to hold it..Going back to war with this new official strategy (even though it looks like it still isnt yet being employed) raised hopes in some that this is our chance...

I dont know what's going on that Netanyahu suddenly seems to be openly trying to upset his coalition partners... reports are speculating that he will soon dismantle the government and call for elections and that is why he is setting some strong positions to campaign on. I dont know if that is true or not - I thought he should have done so long ago.

 

Feldman fell in the battle of Sultan Yacoub, alongside Zachary Baumel and Yehuda Katz. Baumel's remains were recovered in 2019 and brought back for Jewish burial, and now Feldman joins Baumel in restful peace at a grave in Israel his family can visit. 

Hopefully they will soon locate and recover the remains of Yehuda Katz as well.

This was surely a complicated mission. Kudos to all involved, from Prime Minister Netanyahu who had to approve the mission to the Mossad and IDF operatives who had to plan it and carry it out safely.

Such an operation is important for the Feldmans, including Tzvi himself, and for the morale of the entire nation.

There are reports that the remains of four bodies were brought back, one of which was identified as Zvi Feldman's remains, and the others are still being tested for identification. Hopefully the reports are true and the remains will be positively identified and other painful chapters of our history will be closed.

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Last week another neighborhood in Bet Shemesh suffered a full day with no power for the same cause - a private kablan digging ground with a tractor ripped up a power line.

Do these kablanim who cause widespread damage get fined or punished in some way? Aren't they supposed to be checking infrastructure plans of the city to be aware of where major infrastructure lines have been laid - power cables, phone/internet lines, water and sewage, etc..? I know mistakes happen but I hope these contractors get some significant punishment or fine, or maybe even a license stripped, after causing such widespread damage.

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he's way too Christian for me but he strongly supports Israel

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Big is getting bigger. Bigger exposure right now, that is.

The chain of malls in Israel under the name Big is under fire in the Haredi community. One of the branches, by the Glilot interchange, is newly opened on Shabbos and has become very popular and a destination as a secular activity on Shabbos, and also as a destination for Haredi protests.

Bet Shemesh has a Big mall, two actually, and it is very popular among a large portion of the local residents. These were among the first real malls in Bet Shemesh. 

Big Bet Shemesh is, needless to say, closed on Shabbos.

that detail might not be relevant as it will become a pawn in the fight between the Haredi community and the administration of Big.

Haredi rabbonim around Israel have been calling for the boycott of the Big malls due to the desecration of Shabbos by the new branch. The ban would be equally on branches that are closed on Shabbos as on branches that are open on Shabbos.

A group of Haredi rabbonim in Bet Shemesh have now published a letter calling for a community boycott of the Big Malls

I know this is flexing consumer power and Big thinking it can or will lose a lot of business from the Haredi community around Israel might pressure it to close the "offensive" branches on Shabbos... but I also wonder if it might have an opposite affect. Maybe they'll say we are closing on Shabbos in bet Shemesh, for example, and they are boycotting us there anyway, let's open it on Shabbos as well. Something like that probably wont happen in Bet Shemesh because the Haredi community is too big and strong and opening it on Shabbos would be its death knell, but maybe other branches in other areas that are not so Haredi-dominant could see a move like this...

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I didn't understand the strike threat for the education system, with accusations of cutting teachers salaries, and others [coalition] MKs screaming that instead of slashing teachers salaries other things should be slashed, and all that debate...

Didn't they just pass the annual budget 4-5 weeks ago? If some people had problems with the salaries of the teachers being slashed shouldn't they have argued it then when the budget was being passed? They voted for the budget letting this go through and now that it is being implemented they are screaming? Is this being changed from what was in the budget - so they pass a budget that they quickly ignore?

Besides for this teachers issue and possible strike, there is also fighting over a report of other possible monies being given to the Haredi education system in exchange for a promise to not topple the government over the Draft law that has not yet happened and looks like it wont be happening any time soon. Same question - wasn't the budget just passed?

What is going on with this budget?

I am not saying the teachers salaries should be cut or that this or that group should or should not be given monies not previously allocated. I am just not sure how so soon after the budget is passed they can have all these issues....

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